Coca-Cola Stunt Puts Selfies on World Cup Stage

Happiness Flag Features 223,206 Photos From Around the World

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When the World Cup kicks off in Sao Paulo on Thursday, hundreds of thousands of selfies will be draped across the field, as part of Coca-Cola's Happiness Flag stunt.

The beverage giant, an official FIFA sponsor, called on fans to submit a "soccer selfie" for the massive Photomosaic flag. The flag spans 11,800 square feet and is made up of 192 pieces of nylon fabric. It includes 223,206 photos from all 207 markets where Coca-Cola products are sold.

To create the design for the flag, Coca-Cola worked with Brazilian street artist Speto, who created the graphics for its "World's Cup" campaign, and Argentinian arist Tec. Once the painting was completed on cavas, it was digitized and sent to Robert Silvers, CEO of Runway Technology and the inventor of Photomosaic technology. Mr. Silvers plotted each photo onto the flag's design.

Once the flag is unveiled, fans who submitted photos will receive an email directing them to find their photo on HappinessFlag.com. Fans will be able to zoom in on an aerial photo to see where they are on the flag, and likewise, where their photo was on the World Cup field.

Here, James Sommerville, VP-global design at Coca-Cola, talks about the creative process that brought the massive flag to life.